Ade}\re.ss 


$$&&&%&  '  :i  -'  ''■ 
:S$b*Ll-  .>;  ,'ztfs  -  &■  .  •■  r  .l.r-i'V  ,u1«y-.^." ■Wob  vV  „  */,v';  v-1*  v  -  '  l  '  \.S'r  />? 

■  /&•  •  v  •  :*- 

■  • 

Vj  -  '  :.  -  ■■■  .:  ■  ?  : 


sMite 


* 


g£^pk^&*|£ 
fei  V,i 


r.  ~-V  . 

s&  ■„•  c*;“  •■ 


&&?  <&<$#{ 
mm  '*:  ,- 
/■■'•-  - 
‘•■.  -*-:*-•  X'?X  -: 
;.*4.  ’•*■>. 


'W&r>Yl 


ADDRESS  . 


TO  THE 

DEPARTMENT  OF  SUPERINTENDENCE  OF  THE  NATIONAL  EDUCA¬ 
TIONAL  ASSOCIATION,  AT  WASHINGTON,  D.  0., 


ON  THE 


S.  M.  FINGER, 

SUPERINTENDENT  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

FEBRUARY  24,  1886. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


. 


i 


,  ■'  i 


https://archive.org/details/addresstodepartm00fing_0 


t  - : 
•i 


SSOr\ 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  INTERESTS 


OF  THE 

Colored  People  of  the  South. 


Si  nee  the  storms  (hat  beat  upon  our  ship  of  State  subsided, 
we  find  her  anchored  in  the  harbor  of  freedom  and  equality  of  all 
men  before  the  law.  Twenty-one  years  have  elapsed,  and  as  the 
clouds  clear  away,  it  becomes  us  to  take  our  reckonings.  Almost 
a  generation  has  passed  away,  and  other  men  control  and  other 
ideas  prevail.  It  is  wise  that  we  lay  aside  all  sectional  feelings, 
and  without  crimination  or  recrimination  discuss  all  the  great 
problems  that  confront  us,  and  especially  the  negro  problem, 
which  I  submit  is,  perhaps,  the  most  difficult  of  them  all.  I 
desire  to  have  it  understood  that  in  anvthing  I  shall  say  it  is 
furthest  from  my  purpose  to  offend  any  man,  white  or  black, 
North  or  South. 

Born  and  reared  in  the  South,  having  a  Southern  ancestry 
ante-dating  the  revolution  of  1775,  the  son  and  the  grandson  of 
an  owner  of  slaves,  I  have  had  opportunity  of  studying  the  negro 
in  his  home  in  the  South  before  and  since  the  late  war  between 
the  States. 

Educated  in  New  England,  and  having  had  business  inter¬ 
course  with  the  people  of  the  Northern  section  of  the  Union,  I 
have  had  opportunity  of  studying  the  negro  in  the  North  also, 
both  before  and  since  his  freedom. 

Add  to  this  the  fact  that  I  was  taught  bv  my  father  to  look 
with  suspicion  upon  the  institution  of  slavery,  and  that  conse¬ 
quently  I  had  a  degree  of  sympathy  for  the  slaves. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  I  trust  that  I  can  enter  upon  the  dis¬ 
cussion  of  the  negro  question,  with  freedom  from  prejudice 


9 


against  the  colored  people,  and  with  sufficient  opportunity  to 
have  learned  something  about  them  from  actual  contact,  and  to 
enable  me  to  keep  up  with  changing  public  sentiment  about  the 
negro,  both  North  and  South. 

But  with  all  these  opportunities  to  study  and  observe  the 
negro,  I  am  free  to  confess  that  I  do  not  know  that  I  fully 
understand  him  ;  and  I  cannot,  with  satisfaction  to  myself, 
forecast  his  future  or  form  a  definite  conclusion  as  to  his 
capabilities.  So  far  he  is  an  undetermined  quantity  in  the 
problem  of  civilization.  Whether  the  size  of  his  brain 
and  his  other  peculiarities  mark  him  as  the  white  man’s 
natural  inferior,  or  only  emphasize  his  want  of  opportu¬ 
nity,  is  an  unanswered  question,  and  it  must  remain  an  unan¬ 
swered  question  until  he  shall  have  been  tried  and  cultivated  for 
more  than  one  generation. 

It  is,  however,  but  fair  to  state  that  when  we  consult  history, 
any  claim  of  the  negro,  or  of  any  other  of  the  colored  nations, 
to  equality  in  intellect  or  force  of  character  with  the  Indo-Euro¬ 
pean  nations  rests  upon  a  very  slender  foundation.  History 
shows  that  the  Aryan  family  of  nations  overcame  all  other  na¬ 
tions  with  whom  they  came  in  contact.  So  far  as  the  negroes 
in  Africa  were  concerned,  the  grand,  ancient  civilization  around 
the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  sea  did  not  stir  them.  W hile 
the  Egyptians  built  the  pyramids  and  their  magnificent  cities  ; 
while  the  Carthaginians  grappled  in  successful  conflict  with  the 
Romans  ;  while  the  Greeks  and  Romans  made  their  arts  of  war 
and  their  fine  arts  felt  and  known  throughout  the  then  known 
world  ;  while  in  later  days,  even  down  to  the  present,  civiliza¬ 
tion  and  Christianity  have  been  developed  by  the  European  and 
American  people — while  all  these  things  have  been  going  on, 
the  negroes  in  Africa  have  never,  to  any  considerable  extent, 
been  aroused  by  them,  notwithstanding  in  modern  times  special 
efforts  have  been  made  to  civilize  and  christianize  them.  His¬ 
tory  is  against  the  claims  of  the  negro  to  equality  with  the  white 
nations.  He  would  seem  to  be  immovable,  incapable  of  pro- 


» 


o 

o 


gress  except  as  he  is  brought  into  immediate  personal  contact 
with  the  whites. 

However  this  may  be,  the  white  people  of  the  Southern  sec¬ 
tion  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  those  of  the  Northern,  de¬ 
sire  to  give  him  a  fair  trial.  In  this,  there  seems  now  to  be  very 
fair  unanimity  of  sentiment.  So  far  as  the  thing  to  be  done  is 
concerned,  there  is  not  much  diversity  of  opinion.  He  is  a  citi¬ 
zen,  equal  before  the  law  to  any  other  citizen  in  all  the  States  of 
this  Union.  The  conclusion  is,  therefore,  irresistible  that  he  must 
be  educated,  intellectually,  industrially  and  religiously,  not  alone 
for  his  benefit,  but  for  the  protection  of  our  government. 

But  when  we  come  to  consider  how  this  is  to  be  done,  intelli¬ 
gent  and  good  people  have  different  plans  and  theories.  These 
plans  and  theories  have  foundation  in  the  minds  of  those  who 
hold  them  according  to  the  glasses  through  which  the  negro  is 
seen.  One  man  sees  in  him  capabilities  equal  to  those  of  the 
white  man,  and  he  fits  his  plans  and  theories  of  education  to  his 
estimate  of  the  negro’s  natural  ability.  Another  man  sees  the 
negro  as  an  inferior  being  and  he  fits  his  plans  and  theories  to 
his  belief.  Still  another  man  sees  him  asan  untried  and  unknown 
factor  in  civilization,  now  far  behind  in  intelligence,  morality 
and  religion,  and  so  his  ideas  as  to  how  to  educate  him  take 


It  is  exceedingly  interesting  to  watch  these  ever  changing  and 
developing  views  about  the  negro  himself,  and  the  consequent 
ever  changing  and  developing  plans  and  theories  as  to  how  is 
the  best  plan  to  deal  with  him  and  educate  him,  both  for  his  own 
benefit  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  white  people.  Indeed,  the 
whole  matter  would  be  amusing  if  we  could  forget  the  exceeding 
importance  of  the  problem. 

One  man  says  “the  race  line  is  providential,  and  therefore  it 
ought  to  be  perpetuated.”  Another  replies,  but  the  race  line  has 
already  been  broken  down,  and  he  goes  on  to  argue  that  all  laws 
that  favor  the  separation  of  the  races  in  schools  and  all  laws  that 
forbid  intermarriage  between  the  races  ought  to  be  repealed.  He 
says  that  no  harm  would  come  to  the  body-politic  by  allowing 


4 


intermarriage,  because  there  would  be  very  little  of  it  anyhow. 
Thus  one  of  the  reasons  urged  why  intermarriage  should  not  be 
forbidden,  serves  to  show  that  legitimate  social  instincts  have 
been  given  to  the  races  by  their  Creator,  which  will  perpetuate 
the  race  line  in  spite  of  law.  Still  another  man  says,  this  race 
question  can  never  be  settled  until  by  intermarriage  between  the 
races  the  white  race  is  made  to  absorb  the  colored  race;  and  he 
advocates  mixed  schools  and  mixed  churches,  because  he  thinks 
this  policy  will  lead  to  mixed  marriages.  1  repeat  that  these  dif¬ 
ferent  views  wotdd  be  amusing  if  it  were  not  for  the  momentous 
consequences  involved  in  the  adoption  of  a  correct  policy — such 
a  policy  as  will  be  right  in  the  highest  sense  of  that  word,  and 
as  will  be  for  the  best  interests  of  both  races. 

Whether  or  not  the  negro  is  naturally  equal  or  inferior  to  the 
whites  is  disputed,  but  his  equality  or  inferiority  need  not  now 
enter  into  the  discussion  as  to  how  he  should  be  educated.  In  a 
practical  point  of  view,  there  is  common  ground  enough  to  stand 
upon.  The  ground  upon  which  this  discussion  should  proceed  is 
Jiis  real  status  now.  We  should  recognize  his  intellectual  and 
moral  condition  as  it  is,  and  not  too  eagerly  inquire  what  it  will 
be  after  some  generations  of  training  shall  have  been  given  him. 
The  future  will  take  care  of  itself  if  we  faithfully  takc.care  of 
the  present. 

Let  us  now  inquire  what  his  real  status  is.  1  do  not  think 
that  any  man  who  has  not  lived  in  the  South  for  many  years  and 
observed  the  negro  in  his  country  home,  as  well  as  in  the  cities 
and  towns,  will  be  likely  fully  to  understand  his  real  condition, 
intellectually,  morally  and  religiously.  He  may  read  all  the  lit¬ 
erature  touching  upon  it;  he  may  travel  through  the  South,  and 
even  sojourn  for  years  in  the  South,  and  not  comprehend  it.  Far 
the  greater  part  of  the  negroes  live  in  the  country,  on  the  planta¬ 
tions,  and  a  traveller  would  be  apt  to  form  his  opinions  by  what 
he  saw  in  the  cities  and  towns,  where  the  most  intelligent  of  the 
negroes  congregate,  and  where  their  educational  and  religious 
opportunities  are  better  than  in  the  country.  One  who  sees  the 
negro  in  the  cities  and  towns  only  will  fail  fully  to  comprehend 


5 


his  condition,  even  if  he  is  free  from  any,  preconceived  opinions 
about  it. 

Consider  the  case  as  it  is.  A  race  of  the  most  barbarous  people 
on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  perhaps  the  most  ignorant,  brought 
to  the  United  States  but  a  few  generations  ago  at  most;  sunk 
into  the  lowest  depths  of  heathenism;  bound  in  all  their  worship 
by  the  most  abject  fear  and  degrading  superstition  ;  subjected  to 
slavery  without  any  effort,  worth  the  name,  to  cultivate  their 
intellects;  suddenly  released  from  their  bondage  in  the  condition 
of  paupers;  suddenly  made  citizens  equal  before  the  law  to  their 
old  masters,  who  had  been  civilizing  and  developing  for  a  thou¬ 
sand  years;  taught  for  twenty  years  in  the  bad  school  of  poli¬ 
tics;  embittered  against  their  former  owners  and  for  a  time  vir¬ 
tually  ruling  them  ;  with  only  a  few  years  of  limited  education 
by  the  impoverished  South — with  this  history  and  this  treatment, 
what,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  must  be  their  condition  and 
disposition  now  even  if  we  assume  their  natural  equality  with 
the  whites?  Let  any  intelligent  man  free  himself  from  any  pre¬ 
conceived  notions  and  answer  as  his  reason  dictates. 

We  could  but  expect  them  to  be  ignorant  still;  averse  to  labor, 
and  so  still  living  in  poverty;  ruled  largely  by  superstition  and 
fear  in  their  worship;  without  providence  for  the  future,  spend¬ 
ing  their  earnings,  day  by  day  as  they  receive  them,  if  not  for  the 
necessities  of  life,  for  its  pleasures  and  frivolities;  inclined  to 
immorality;  the  present  generation,  in  large  part,  growing  up  in 
idleness  and  worthlessness  because  of  their  surroundings  and 
home  life. 

These  surroundings  and  home  life  are,  as  a  rule,  of  the  most 
unfavorable  kind.  In  the  country  as  well  as  in  the  cities  and 
towns,  in  many  cases,  whole  families — fathers  and  mothers, 
brothers  and  sisters — live  in  small  houses,  often  containing  but 
one  room,  the  parents  exercising  no  restraint  or  an  impatient 
and  passionate  restraint  over  their  children,  and  the  children 
having  no  elevating  companionship.  Of  course  there  are  excep¬ 
tions,  but  I  am  not  now  noting  the  exceptions.  With  such  sur¬ 
roundings  in  the  formative,  family  life  of  the  colored  children 


(j 


before  they  reach  the  school  age,  and  with  such  companionship, 
they  have  a  most  unfavorable  start  for  the  formation  of  charac- 
ter.  Add  to  these  home  influences  t he  physical  inheritances 
transmitted  to  them — inheritances  that  are  apparent  to  the  sight — 
and  add  to  these  still  the  inheritances  of  mind  and  soul  which 
are  invisible  to  mortal  sight,  but  which  are  no  less  real  than  the 
physical,  and  we  can  have  some  appreciation  of  the  real  condition 
of  these  children. 

I  have  drawn  the  general  picture.  I  am  glad  that  I  can 
note  many  exceptions.  As  we  visit  the  hotels  and  barbershops, 
we  find  almost  all  the  service  performed  by  well-behaved,  in¬ 
telligent  and  decent  colored  persons,  whose  very  service  has 
brought  the  elevating  contact  with  the  white  people,  just 
as  it  does  in  the  Northern  States.  Then,  too,  we  have  in 
the  South  a  large  number  of  old  negroes,  industrious  and  well- 
behaved — good  men  and  women.  The  schools  have  elevated 
quite  a  goodly  number  into  respectable  teachers  and  preachers, 
and  some  have  advanced  in  other  walks  of  life.  But  all  of 
these  compose  but  comparatively  a  small  proportion  of  the  great 
mass. 

In  this  connection,  it  should  be  noted,  too,  that  in  those  sec¬ 
tions  of  the  South,  where  the  farms  were  small  before  the  slaves 
were  freed,  and  where  the  whites  labored  with  (he  slaves,  the 
negroes  are  far  more  advanced  in  intelligence,  good  manners  and 
good  morals,  than  are  those  who  lived  on  the  large  cotton,  rice,  and 
sugar  plantations.  The  difference  is  marked  both  as  to  the  older 
negroes  and  their  children;  but  I  cannot  now  examine  the  differ¬ 
ent  sections  of  the  South  in  detail.  1  have  time  to  draw  onlv  a 

«/ 

general  picture  of  what  the  negro’s  condition  is  in  the  South, 
and  1  desire  to  draw  it  strictly  in  the  light  of  facts,  and  in  making 
this  list  of  exceptions,  I  am  willing  to  leave  a  number  of  blank 
pages  to  be  filled  by  any  person  to  suit  his  section  ;  and  still  the 
general  picture,  as  I  have  drawn  it,  will  be  found  substantially 
true.  I  am  willing  to  concede  that  the  negroes,  as  a  whole,  are 
improving  slowly  intellectually,  and  yet  1  want  to  impress  the 
tact  that  the  great  mass  of  them  is  at  the  bottom  round  of  the 


7 


ladder  of  civilization,  and  that  there  are  hereditary  tendencies 
which  any  proper  system  of  education  must  take  into  considera¬ 
tion. 

One  of  the  great  mistakes  many  Northren  teachers  made  when 
they  came  South  and  took  charge  of  colored  schools  was  not 
to  take  note  of  these  hereditary  tendencies,  both  physical  and 
mental — and  the  result  was  that  the  moral  development  of  their 
pupils  did  not  keep  pace  with  their  intellectual  development. 
Some  of  these  Northern  teachers,  who  have  had  charge  of  col¬ 
ored  schools  for  years,  now  understand  the  real  status  of  the 
negro  children  as  to  intelligence  and  character,  and  they  hesitate 
about  training  their  own  children  in  association  with  them  in  the 
school  room. 

These  teachers  had  seen  the  negro  in  the  North  only,  where 
the  brightest  pf  them  had  found  their  homes  before  the  war; 
where  they  did  not  number  one  in  fifty  of  the  population;  where, 
from  the  very  fact  of  there  being  comparatively  so  few  of  them, 
contact  with  the  whites  was  a  necessity  in  the  daily  labor  of  the 
negroes,  because,  .wherever  they  turned  to  find  employment,  they 
rubbed  against,  the  whites;  where  they  had  the  very  best  oppor¬ 
tunities  that  any  people  so  low  down  in  the  scale  of  civilization 
ever  had  in  the  whole  history  of  the  world;  where,  on  account  of 
the  comparative  smallness  of  their  numbers,  they  had  no  appre¬ 
ciable  effect  upon  the  multitude  of  superior  white  people;  where 
the  one  negro  child,  elevated  by  constant  contact  in  every-day 

O  /  V  W  V 

life  with  white  people,  had  been  educated  with  a  multitude  of 
white  children  without  any  appreciable  deleterious  effect  upon 
them.  These  teachers,  with  ideas  about  the  negro  formed  by  what 

they  saw  of  him  under  such  circumstances,  came  South  and  ex- 

*/  * 

pected  to  deal  with  him  in  the  same  way  they  had  dealt  with  him 
North.  After  years  of  labor,  many  of  them,  I  think,  are  dis¬ 
couraged  with  the  slow  progress  their  pupils  have  made,  especially 
in  the  development  of  character. 

Aristotle  wisely  said,  twenty-two  hundred  years  ago,  the  same 
education  will  not  produce  the  same  virtues  in  different  persons, 
for  the  formation  of  character  in  each  person  is  dependent  upon 


8 


three  tilings — nature,  habit  and  instruction.  This  was  true  as 
applied  then  to  the  progressive  Greeks,  and  it  is  true  as  applied 
to  all  people.  Shall  we  not  recognize  it  now  as  applied  to  the 
negroes?  Shall  we  attempt  to  educate  the  negroes  of  the  South 
in  the  same  school-room  with  the  whites?  Shall  we  ignore  the 
fact  that  the  nature  and  habits  of  the  colored  children  are  widely 
different  from  the  nature  and  habits  of  the  white  children?  Shall 
a  false  philanthropy  cause  us  to  attempt  to  do  an  unnatural  and 
an  impossible  thing? 

Many  things  have  been  done  since  the  war  that  have  been 
damaging  to  the  educational  and  religious  interests  of  the  negro, 
fhe  passions  of  the  hour  ran  so  high  that  we  went  to  work 
to  advance  him  to  a  position  far  beyond  what  he  was  pre¬ 
pared  for.  He  was  given  the  ballot  of  which  he  was  not  wor¬ 
thy.  He  was  taught  that  to  be  free  he  must  leave  his  old  mas¬ 
ter’s  premises,  if  only  to*  remove  to  an  adjoining  plantation; 
that  he  must  leave  his  old  master’s  church  and  organize  a  church 
of  his  own;  that  education  was  a  panacea  for  all  the  ills  of  life; 
that  he  must  have  teachers  and  preachers  of  his  own  color;  that 
the  southern  people  would,  if  they  could,  put  him  back  into 
slavery. 

Fhe  color  line  was  drawn  in  this  way,  and  to  a  large  extent  it 
is  kept  up  yet.  Because  of  prejudices  growing  out  of  their 
bondage,  and  because  the  southern  people  resisted  giving  them 
the  ballot  at  the  time  it  was  done  and  in  the  way  it  was  done,  it 
was  easy  to  align  the  negroes  against  the  whites  in  politics  and 
to  separate  them  from  the  whites  in  every  other  way.  This  sep¬ 
aration  lessened  their  contact  with  the  whites  and  set  them  back 
in  a  religious  point  of  view  because  of  the  dense  ignorance  of 
those  who  assumed  the  office  of  preachers.  In  this  respect  they 
yet  suffer  great  loss,  for  in  very  many  cases  their  preachers  are 
still  densely  ignorant  and  the  preaching  is  unmeaning  words — 
mere  sound  and  furv. 

J 

But  the  prejudices  between  the  two  races,  which  was  perhaps 
stronger  on  the  part  of  the  negroes  against  the  whites  than  on 
the  part  of  the  whites  against  the  negroes,  are  breaking  down  • 

o  /  o  y 


9 


and  I  do  not  think  it  will  be  long  until  a  much  better  state  of 
feeling  will  exist  between  them.  What  I  desire  specially  to  say 
in  this  connection,  is  that  the  American  people  have  been  pursu¬ 
ing  a  wrong  policy  with  the  negro,  in  that  they  have  placed  him 
in  an  unnatural  state  of  advancement,  and  have  spoiled  him. 

The  negro’s  burden  as  a  slave  was  forced  labor;  to  him,  free¬ 
dom  and  the  ballot  and  education  meant  exemption  from  man¬ 
ual  labor,  especially  with  such  teaching  and  treatment  as  I  have 
alluded  to.  With  all  this  history  as  slaves  and  as  freemen  and 
citizens,  and  with  their  ignorance,  it  could  but  be  expected 
that  many  of  the  negroes  would  become  more  and  more  worth¬ 
less  as  laborers,  and  that  their  children  would  be  trained  to 
avoid  labor  as  the  curse  olhcurses,  and  so  be  more  worthless  than 
their  parents.  The  negro’s  head,  so  to  speak,  has  been  turned, 
by  the  very  novelty  of  his  new  condition. 

In  proportion,  however,  as  they  have  been  properly  educated 
and  have  been  led  to  see  their  condition  as  it  is,  and  have  learned 
that  their  freedom  is  secure,  and  that  the  white  people  of  the 
South  mean  to  assist  them  to  such  degree  of  elevation  as  they 
may  prove  worthy  of,  they  become  more  contented.  The  state 
of  feeling  towards  the  whites  is  continually  growing  better.  So, 
too,  the  white  people  are  more  and  more  adapting  themselves  to 
the  situation.  More  and  more  there  is  a  settled  conviction  that 
not  only  are  the  negroes  citizens,  and  here  to  stay,  but  that  they 
are  best  adapted  to  development  of,  at  least,  the  agricultural 
possibilities  of  the  South.  With  a  judicious  system  of  educa¬ 
tion,  and  with  just  such  treatment  as  they  may  merit  from  time 
to  time,  they  will  improve  and  make  valuable  citizens.  Just 
now  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  a  determined  effort  shall 
be  made  to  properly  train  the  negro  children  in  schools  and  Sun¬ 
day-schools,  and  to  improve  the  home  life  of  the  colored  people, 
and  to  inspire  them  with  a  higher  idea  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Not  only  is  this  of  the  utmost  importance,  but  it  is  a  work  of 
the  utmost  difficulty,  and  one  in  which  the  white  people  must 
guide. 

In  my  judgment  we  must  have  not  only  separate  schools  for 


10 


the  colored  people,  but  also  separate  churches;  and  these  schools 
and  churches  must  be  taught  and  ministered  to  by  colored 
teachers  and  preachers  so  far  as  colored  people  will  prepare 
themselves  to  fill  these  offices.  This  is  so  because  both  races,  as 
a  whole,  want  it  so;  and  because  the  relative  condition  of  the 
races  make  it  a  necessity.  Any  attempt  at  a  general  system  of 
mixed  schools  and  mixed  cl  lurches  would  be  a  signal  failure. 

J  know  that  some  philanthropists  claim  that  no  aid  should  be 
given  to  schools  or  churches  in  the  south  except  upon  the  condi¬ 
tion  of  opening  the  doors  to  both  races.  They  have  a  theory 
that  must  not  be  departed  from.  Judging  them  by  their  words 
and  acts,  they  believe  it  to  be  wrong — a  sin — to  open  a  school 
for  the  colored  people  and  at  the  same  time  not  allow  the  white 
people  to  patronize  it;  also,  that  it  is  wrong  to  open  a  school  for 
the  white  people  and  not  allow  the  colored  people  to  attend  it. 
Likewise,  they  hold  the  same  belief  in  reference  to  churches. 
1  hey  believe  in  the  promiscuous  mixing  of  the  races  in  the 
churches,  and  in  many  cases  this  course  is  urgently  advised. 

the  result  of  this  teaching  has  been  a  continual  clashing  of 
the  races,  and  it  has  threatened  to  break  down  the  public  schools 
of  the  south. 

In  some  sections  of  the  south,  strong  efforts  have  been  made 
to  establish  mixed  congregations  for  public  worship,  and  the  col- 
ored  people  have  been  invited  and  even  urged  to  join  the  white 
congregations,  but  they  almost  invariably  refuse  to  do  it  as  long 
as  there  is  a  colored  congregation  in  the  neighborhood.  I  see  it 
stated  that  quite  recently  the  Florida  Conference  of  the  M.  E. 
Church  North  divided  on  the  color  line,  forming  two  conferences 
in  the  same  territory,  one  white  and  one  colored.  In  making 
this  division  it  was  argued  that  this  step  had  become  a  necessity 
foi  the  pi  ogress  of  this  church  in  the  south.  Thus  slowly  is  the 
truth  dawning  upon  men  s  minds  that  these  races  are  so  different 
in  nature  and  habits  that  they  are  not  now  suited  for  such  asso¬ 
ciations. 

The  colored  people  really  prefer  to  have  their  schools  and 
churches  separate  from  those  of  the  whites,  and  whites  demand 


11 


♦ 

that  their  schools  and  churches  shall  he  separate  from  those  of 
the  colored  people. 

This  disposition  of  the  races  to  separate  from  each  other  is 
explained  by  those  who  advocate  mixed  schools  and  mixed 
churches  by  saying  that  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  matter  is  race 
prejudice.  Those  who  advocate  separation  say  that  this  disposi¬ 
tion  rests  upon  legitimate  social  instincts ,  and  not  upon  race  pre¬ 
judice.  Whatever  is  the  true  explanation,  the.  fact  is  hardly  dis¬ 
puted  by  any  intelligent  person,  and  as  a  fact  it  must  govern  our 
policy. 

The  most  intelligent  of  tin;  colored  people  know  that  the 
policy  of  mixed  schools  would  inevitably  break  down  the  whole 
public  school  system  of  the  South,  and  so  deprive  them  of  the 
educational  opportunities  which  they  now  have  at  public  expense. 
They  know,  too,  that  a  policy  of  mixed  schools  means  that  ichite 
teachers,  and  not  colored  ones,  would  be  employed  if  such  a 
policy  could  be  adopted  without  breaking  down  the  schools 
entirelv.  They  know,  too,  that  mixed  churches  means  white 
ministers  and  not  colored  ones. 

If  the  colored  people  are  to  make  progress  they  must,  as  far 
as  practicable,  be  thrown  upon  their  own  efforts,  educationally 
and  religiously,  as  well  as  in  a  material  point  of  view.  In  these 
particulars  the  same  rule  applies  as  in  the  whole  animal  and 
vegetable  economy — effort  and  exercise.  The  colored  people  can 
never  be  made  to  stand  alone  unless  they  are  encouraged  to 
depend  upon  their  own  efforts  and  resources.  Mixed  schools 
and  mixed  churches  inevitably  take  away  the  occupation  of  col¬ 
ored  teachers  and  colored  preachers,  and  continue  the  colored 
people’s  dependence  upon  the  whites.  There  may  be  mixed 
schools  and  mixed  congregations  presided  over  by  colored  teach¬ 
ers  and  colored  preachers,  but,  if  so,  J  do  not  know  where  they 
are. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  colored  people  are  far  enough 
advanced,  educationally,  morally  or  religiously,  to  stand  alone, 
and  to  make  further  progress  in  these  particulars  without  the 
assistance  and  guidance  of  the  whites.  Indeed,  I  am  free  to  say 


12 


that  I  do  not  believe  they  are.  I  think  it  is  evident  now  that  if 

all  assistance  l>v  the  whites  and  all  contact  with  them  were  with- 
%> 

drawn,  the  colored  people,  in  the  aggregate,  would  go  backward 
instead  of  forward. 

One  thing,  however,  is  very  much  to  the  negro’s  advantage: 
his  faculty  of  imitation  is  very  strongly  developed.  He  seems 
naturally  to  imitate  his  white  neighbors  and  to  follow  their  guid¬ 
ance,  especially  when  he  is  not  controlled  by  prejudice.  There¬ 
fore  everything  but  principle  should  be  conceded  by  the  whites 
in  order  to  break  down  all  prejudice.  That  done,  the  whites  will 
have  access  to  the  colored  people  and  will  be  able  to  guide  them. 

1  hen  good  examples  will  be  imitated  and  good  instruction  will  be 
heeded;  then  will  the  whites  be  able  more  successfully  to  teach 
colored  teachers  and  colored  preachers,  and.  to  gather  colored  chil¬ 
dren  into  Sunday-schools  and  instruct  them  in  the  principles  of 
morality  and  the  Christian  religion. 

But  the  colored  people  must  be  encouraged  in  every  practicable 
way  to  help  themselves.  Just  as  a  child,  when  being  taught  to 
walk,  does  not  learn  to  walk,  no  matter  how  much  its  mother 
may  help  it,  until  it  puts  forth  its  own  powers  and  tries  to  help 
itself;  just  so  must  the  colored  people,  weak  as  they  are,  be  led 
by  the  whites,  but  in  such  way  as  to  cause  them  to  trv — cause 
them  to  call  into  exercise  all  their  powers.  In  accordance  with 
this  piinciple,  I  think  it  best  for  them  to  have  teachers  and 


pi  eachers  of  their  own  color  so  long  as  thev  may  want  them. 

By  pursuing  this  course,  the  two  races  can,  I  believe,  live  in 
the  South  together  in  peace,  each  helping  the  other;  and  there 
will  l>e  some  field  of  intellectual  work  open  to  the  negro.  In 
this  country,  where  there  are  seven  whites  to  one  negro,  with 
su<  h  a  wide  difference  between  them  in  everv  way,  it  is  not  rea¬ 
sonable  to  suppose  that  there  can  ever  be  any  considerable  field 
for  intellectual  work  for  the  negro  unless  he  finds  it  among  his 
own  people.  \\  ithout  some  opportunity  to  exercise  his  intellec¬ 
tual  faculties,  he  will  soon  be  discouraged  and  lose  his  appetite 
foi  education,  and  become  a  mere  serf  or  peon.  Already  there 
are  signs  of  discouragement.  As  the  negroes  realize  that  labor 


1 


o 

o 


is  a  necessity,  and  that  education  does  not  free  them  from  it,  they 
relax  their  efforts  and  are  not  so  anxious  to  send  their  children 
to  school ;  and  under  any  system  that  will  be  practicable  to  adopt, 
we  will  see  more  and  more  of  this  as  time  rolls  along.  They, 
however,  have  a  commendable  race  pride.  They  have  always 
been  dependent  upon  the  whites,  and  the  whites  have  always 
claimed  that  this  dependence  was  natural  and  necessary  for  the 
welfare  of  both  races,  and  have  always  claimed  superiority.  In 
more  ways  than  one,  since  the  war,  the  negroes  have  been  taught 
that  they  are  not  naturally  inferior  to  the  whites,  and  that  all 
they  lack  of  being  equal  to  the  whites  is  education  and  a  proper 
sense  of  self-dependence,  or  rather  independence.  Even  if  this 
is  not  so,  their  believing  it  stimulates  their  race  pride,  and  makes 
them  struggle  harder  to  advance.  This  is  very  much  to  their 
advantage  upon  the  principle,  universally  acknowledged,  that  a 
faithful  trial  is  half  the  battle  in  every  enterprise,  and  with  all 
people.  1  think,  therefore,  that  so  long  as  the  negroes  prefer 
teachers  and  preachers  of  their  own  race,  they  ought  to  be  en¬ 
couraged  in  their  preference,  provided  colored  persons  will  qual¬ 
ify  themselves  for  the  work;  but  there  must  be  a  rigid  superin¬ 
tendence  of  all  school  work  by  the  whites. 

From  another  standpoint,  I  insist  that  this  is  the  correct  policy. 
The  negro’s  prejudice  against  the  whites  of  the  South,  has  been 
intense  for  two  reasons;  (1)  because  he  was  held  in  the  bondage 
of  slavery,  and  (2)  because  in  the  days  -of  reconstruction,  the 
whites  resisted  his  being  allowed  to  vote.  These  prejudices  will 
sooner  be  broken  down  by  allowing  freedom  of  action  in  all  par¬ 
ticulars  where  no  wrong  principle  is  involved.  To  accomplish  this 
end,  it  is  better  to  allow  them  reasonably  competent  teachers  of 
their  own  race,  even  if,  for  the  time  being,  better  qualified  white 
teachers  could  be  employed  to  serve  them.  After  perfectly 
friendly  relations  are  established,  and  after  the  negroes  see  that 
it  may  be  better  for  them  to  have  white  teachers,  they  will  seek 
them — then  plenty  will  be  found  to  serve  them. 

I  have  said  that  there  are  signs  of  discouragement  among  the 
negroes,  because  freedom,  the  ballot,  and  education  have  not 


14 


*■ 


brought  the  beneficial  results  which  they  so  confidently  expected. 
So,  too,  many  of  the  white  people  are  also  discouraged.  Out  of 
their  poverty,  the  Southern  States  are  spending  for  the  education 
of  the  negroes  perhaps  as  much  as  five  million  dollars  per  annum, 
without  satisfactory  results.  In  this  work,  both  the  Southern 
negroes  and  the  Southern  whites  deserve  the  encouragement  of 
Congressional  aid.  But  that  question  1  do  not  propose  to  argue 
at  length;  it  seems  to  me  to  be  a  self-evident  proposition.  It 
will  encourage  t lie  negroes  as  well  as  the  whites,  and  it  should 
be  given  in  such  way  as  to  allow  a  part  to  be  used  for  building 
and  furnishing:  school  houses.  Comfortable  and  well  furnished 
houses  are  necessities,  and  of  such  the  South  is  very  sadly  in 
need.  The  aid  now  proposed  by  Congress  is  confessedly  mainly 
for  the  South,  and  L  can  see  no  good  reason  why  it  should  be 
limited  to  the  payment  of  teachers’  salaries.  It  should,  by  all 
means,  be  put  into  the  school  treasuries  of  the  States,  and  be  used 
in  common  with  State  funds  for  all  school  purposes.  If  Congress 
will  consent  to  encourage  the  school  workers  of  the  South  by 
extending  this  aid,  let  it  be  done  in  such  way  as  not  to  hamper 


them. 

If  it  were  not  for  the  negroes,  the  Southern  States  would  not 
need  this  aid  and  would  not  ask  it,  and  if  it  were  not  for  the 
negroes  no  member  of  Congress  would  propose  it.  It  is  due  to 
the  south  in  common  fairness,  and  the  people  of  the  south  have 
sh  own  that  they  are  in  earnest  in  educating  the  negroes  and  are 
worthy  of  it.  I  honor  northern  men  who  favor  it,  and  I  am  sur¬ 
prised  at  southern  men  who  oppose  it.  I  honor  northern  men 
more  who  favor  it  without  hampering  restrictions,  and  I  am 
the  more  surprised  at  southern  men  who  oppose  it  when  it  is  pro¬ 
posed  that  the  funds  shall  be  managed  by  State  authorities. 

So  far  as  the  question  of  civil  rights  as  distinguished  from 
social  privileges,  is  concerned,  that  is  fast  working  itself  out,  and 
the  less  force  applied  to  it  the  better. 

It  is  no  unusual  thing  now  in  the  South  to  find  negroes  rid¬ 
ing  in  first  class  cars  with  the  whites.  I  have  seen  negroes  in 
the  political  conventions  of  both  political  parties;  I  have  seen 


♦ 


15 


them  serving  with  the  whites  as  jurymen  in  the  trial  of  import¬ 
ant  causes.  Recently,  in  a  city  of  the  South,  a't  the  dedication  of 
a  public  school  building,  1  saw  white  and  colored  aldermen 
seated  on  the  same  rostrum  during  the  ceremonies.  In  all  such 
intercourse  proper  conduct  and  qualifications  can  be  made  requis¬ 
ites.  Indeed,  in  all  social  and  semi-social  intercourse  the  cor¬ 
rect  policy  is  to  apply  as  little  force  as  possible,  and  let  people’s 
likes  and  dislikes'  and  the  free  spirit  of  our  republican  institu¬ 
tions  control. 

The  white  people  of  the  South  insist  rigidly  upon  but  two 
things  as  to  intercourse  between  the  races.  1.  That  there  shall 
be  separate  public  schools  for  both  races,  and  (2)  that  there  shall 
be  no  inter-marriages  between  the  races.  The  negroes,  or  rather 
the  too  sanguine  friends  of  the  negroes,  who  do  not  know  them, 
will  act  wisely  if  they  will  make  no  contest  on  these  two  {joints. 
These  are  matters  of  public  policy  which  the  States  have  a  right 
to  control,  and  about  which  there  is  almost  unanimity  of  senti¬ 
ment. 

In  this  paper  I  have  spoken  of  education  in  a  general  way 
only,  using  the  term  in  its  broadest  signification.  While  educa¬ 
tion  in  books,  especially  in  the  fundamental  branches  of  English, 
is,  perhaps,  of  prime  importance,  industrial  education  is  of 
scarcely  less  importance,  and  it  is  pressing  for  proper  recogni¬ 
tion  in  our  systems.  How  and  to  what  extent  it  can  be  applied 
for  the  benefit  of  the  negroes  I  cannot  now  discuss  more  than  to 
say  that  it  is  most  highly  probable  that  an  unusually*  large  pro¬ 
portion  of  them  will  always  find  their  places  on  the  farms,  and 
that  therefore  special  efforts  ought  to  be  made  to  teach  them  the 
most  improved  methods  of  farming.  Farm  life  is  itself  a  very 
fine  industrial  school,  and  as  the  general  farming  interests  of  the 
■South  are  improved  the  negroes  will  share  largely  in  the  benefits. 


Microfilmed 

SDLINET/A  SERL  PROJECT 


ijjjjjpiif! 

ji5i:H:iiii| 

a 

••lit:::::::;:!; 

IlilN 


pgiii 

ill 

::  :  !::k>sS 


